Issue 75 is the seventy-fifth edition of Sonic the Comic, the UK's official SEGA comic. Released on the 30th of March 1996, at the price of £1.20, it contained four original stories and several features, as well as a Splats Badnik pin-up.
Contents[]
- Control Zone
- Sonic the Hedgehog - Smokey and the Badnik
- Graphic Zone
- Knuckles the Echidna - The Ghost Ship: Part 2
- Shining Force - The Curse of Zeon: Part 3
- Q Zone
- Tails - Fox on the Run: Part 3
- Speedlines
- Next Issue
Strips[]
Sonic the Hedgehog[]
Smokey and the Badnik is a complete story starring Sonic the Hedgehog. Written by Nigel Kitching, drawn by Richard Elson and lettered by Ellie de Ville, the story mainly follows Smokey, a resident of the Metropolis Zone, who has befriended a Roller Badnik. Sonic has come to the Zone to dispose of the Badnik, but is distracted by a Trooper attack. Once that is dealt with, Sonic returns to the Roller, but Smokey convinces Sonic to leave his friend alone.
Knuckles the Echidna[]
The Ghost Ship is a 6-part Knuckles the Echidna adventure, co-starring Captain Plunder. Written by Kitching, drawn by Nigel Dobbyn and lettered by Elitta Fell, Plunder convinces Knuckles to take the Floating Island higher than its ever been in pursuit of the Ghost Ship of Tantaragor. Plunder doesn't have the promised Island plans on him, so Knuckles follows him as they board the vessel. The find The Tantaragor Idol, but are captured by the appearance of the Tantaror pilots.
Shining Force[]
The Curse of Zeon is a 6-part Shining Force story, written by Kitching, drawn by Martin Griffiths, coloured by Gina Hart and lettered by Tom Frame. Maximillian teleports Taya, Bowie and Zynk out of his house before Baron Kadavaar kills him. The three travel to the land of Hassan to find help, only to be attacked by centaur Chester.
Tails[]
Fox on the Run is a 4-part Tails story, written by Lew Stringer, drawn by Carl Flint, coloured by Mike Hadley and lettered by Steve Potter. As Fleabyte searches for his prey, Tails and Tantrum fall towards a lava lake. They're "rescued" by a pair of Grabber Badniks who bicker over how best to eat them, so the heroes escape. Soon, they find an exit shaft and only just manage to escape when Tantrum sets off a trap - but find themselves right in front of Fleabyte.
Features[]
Being an April Fools issue, the Control Zone is dedicated to the arrival of new character "Chickles", an alien bird who arrives in the "Mushroom Omelette Zone." Megadroid soon reveals it to be an elaborate joke (along with the cover joke). He then fills his welcome message with egg puns. In the Sega Charts, Fifa Soccer '96, Earthworm Jim and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are still non-movers in the Mega Drive, Mega-CD and Master System categories. Sonic 2 also rises back to the top of the Game Gear chart.
Also an Easter issue, the theme of the Graphic Zone is Easter, filled with Sonic-related pictures of eggs and bunnies. Published drawings earned Boomers a pack of Crayola Overwriter pens. Speedlines had similar pictures, whereas letters came from a Super Nintendo owner asking if SEGA system ownership is mandatory, another asking for the exact location of Mobius and many more people defending STC after a negative letter printed in Issue 69. The Q Zone gave passwords for Ecco the Dolphin game The Tides of Time, as well as presenting a cheat code for the Mega-CD version.
Staff[]
- Deborah Tate - editor
- Audrey Wong - assistant editor
- Gary Knight - designer
- Carl Flint - cover art
- William Potter - editorial assistance
- Richard Burton - consultant
- Sarah Colley - production
- Gary Bell - marketing manager
Timeline[]
The previous issue was Issue 74. The next is Issue 76.